The papers of Osmond K. Fraenkel (1888-1983) were presented to the
Harvard Law School Library as a gift by his daughter, Nancy F. Wechsler, in
November 1984. An additional gift of 179 letters and notes of Fraenkel
addressed to Selma M. Breitenbach (1965, 1966, 1975, 1981-1983) was received as
a gift from Selma M. Breitenbach on 4 April 1985.

Access to these papers is governed by the rules and regulations of the
Harvard Law School Library. This collection is open (except closed folders and
paige boxes) to the public, but is housed off-site at Harvard Depository and
requires 2 business-day advance notice for retrieval. Consult the Special Collections
staff for further information. .

The Harvard Law School Library holds copyright on some, but not all, of
the material in our collections. Requests for permission to publish material
from this collection should be directed to the Special Collections staff.
Researchers who obtain permission to publish from the Harvard Law School
Library are also responsible for identifying and contacting the persons or
organizations who hold copyright.

Access to these papers is governed by the rules and regulations of the
Harvard Law School Library in general and the Manuscript Division in
particular. Access to the seventy-six diary-notebooks and the thirty-nine
folders of correspondence with Selma M. Breitenbach is closed until fifty years
from Osmond K. Fraenkel's death, 16 May 2033.

The 1300 items in the papers of Osmond K. Fraenkel (1888-1983), lawyer,
civil libertarian, author, span the years 1912 to 1983, with his
autobiographical reminiscences including his child hood, college and law school
years (1888- 1911). The collection consists of letters received and the
originals of letters sent; telegrams; post cards;
drafts; notebooks and loose notes; lists; and
diaries.

The collection falls into three distinct groups: (a) The draft of an
autobiography, (b) Fraenkel's
correspondence with Selma M. Breitenbach, and (c)
his diaries.

The holograph draft of the manuscript of Osmond K. Fraenkel's
autobiography is contained in five small-size notebooks, and the period covered
is 1888 to 1953. The draft was written essentially between 1954 and 1956, with
a few last entries dated 1962. Volume 1 contains a one-page Introduction about
how Fraenkel came to draft this autobiography. He states that he was challenged
and inspired by
Arthur Meyer to whom he had sent parts of his diaries.
He drew on his diaries and on letters to write this manuscript. He began in the
summer of 1954 with vol. 3 (1913-1927), wrote vol. 4 in the fall of 1954, vol.
1 in 1955, vol. 2 in December 1956, and vol. 5 sporadically over the years
1954, 1955, 1956, and 1962. Fraenkel says that, in addition to drawing on his
diaries, the autobiography fills in gaps in his diaries. The "autobiography"
has not been published.

The correspondence of Osmond K. Fraenkel with Thelma M. Breitenbach spans
the years 1933 to 1983, with the bulk of the correspondence falling into the
period 1933 to 1965. Letters and notes are mainly those of Fraenkel addressed
to his friend Selma Breitenbach, with a smaller number of letters by her. They
relate to Fraenkel's day-to-day personal and professional activities; to their
families and friends, e.g. Alfred A. Knopf who introduced Fraenkel to the
pleasure and satisfaction of collecting first editions of books; to the world
of the theater, music, art and literature; and to observations on nature and on
travel. In part the letters of Fraenkel reflect his life-long concern with
violation of the civil liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights: as co
counsel to the New York Civil Liberties Union (1934-1955) and later general
counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union (1955-1977) he handled great
numbers of their cases, arguing several of them before the Supreme Court of the
United States. Letters also discuss some of his writing commitments.

Osmond K. Fraenkel's diary-notebooks span the years 1912 to 1980; there
are seventy-six of these volumes. Essentially, entries were made by him on a
daily basis; however, an occasional span of two months or more is summed up in
a resume. The entries document in detail Fraenkel's professional activities,
including comments on cases argued and on court decisions; his civil liberties
activities including accounts of meetings of the New York Civil Liberties Union
and the American Civil Liberties Union; his social life; and his travels. In
addition, there are a few loose items in these diary volumes, e.g. an exchange
between Fraenkel and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, 3 and 15
February 1961, and a holograph letter of Fraenkel to
Roger Baldwin, 20 April 1964.

Major correspondents in these papers are Fraenkel himself, and Selma M.
Breitenbach.

The following catalog entries represent persons, organizations, and
topics documented in this collection. An entry for each appears in the Harvard
On Line Library Information System (HOLLIS) and other automated bibliographic
databases. THIS IS NOT AN INDEX.

1-3 Covers the years
1913-1927. First page dated
10 Aug. 1954. This was the first volume OKF wrote;
it was subsequently renumbered "2" to put it in sequence.

1-4 Covers the years
1928-1939. First page dated
Sept. 7, 1954.

1-5 Covers the years
1940-1953 and includes some general observations.
First page dated
Dec. 2, 1954.

Folders 1-6 to 1-17

closed until May 16, 2033

1-6 Loose pages found in draft of autobiography

Mainly diary pages, all dated; also one letter dated 17 December 1956,
signed "Elsie," in which she attempts to reconstruct some of their movements
for the period 1907 to 1909. Elsie probably OKF's sister.

Series: Manuscript Boxes: CLOSED II.

Correspondence of Osmond K. Fraenkel with Selma M.
Breitenbach

1-7 1933-1959: Miscellaneous

Includes handwritten lists of OKF entitled "Some dates and
places."

1-8 to 1-11 1933-1934

Includes handwritten letter of SMB to OKF dated 19 December 1932.

1-12 to 1-14 1935-1936

1-15 to 2-1 1937-1939

2-2 to 2-4 1940-1942

2-5 to 2-7 1943-1946

2-8 to 2-9 1947-1949

2-10 1950-1952

2-11 to 3-1 1953-1954

3-2 1955-1956

3-3 to 3-6 1957-1958

3-7 1959-1960

3-8 to 3-10 1961-1962

3-11 1963-1965

3-12 1966, 1975

3-13 1981

3-14 to 3-15 1982

3-16 1983

Series: Paige Boxes: CLOSED

III. The Diaries of Osmond K. Fraenkel

Paige Box 1 August 1, 1912 - April 7, 1960

Diary - notebooks #19 - #54

Paige Box 2 April 8, 1960 - December 10, 1980

Diary - notebooks #55 - #94

Note: For chronological period covered in each volume, see following
pages. (Inclusive Dates)